SANTA CLARITA / ANTELOPE VALLEY : Injured Girl’s Condition Upgraded

A teen-age girl who was given only a 10% chance to live after an auto accident three weeks ago has been upgraded from critical to stable condition, Northridge Hospital Medical Center authorities said Tuesday.

But Barbara Du Bois, 14, one of five girls in a car that collided with two other vehicles June 1, is still in a coma, hospital spokeswoman Deborah Moore said.

“We’re still praying,” said Mary McWilliams, Du Bois’ grandmother and guardian.

Du Bois sustained brain damage and her left arm may be partially paralyzed, doctors have told McWilliams. An encouraging sign is that Du Bois has been taken off an oxygen machine and is breathing on her own.

The extent of brain damage suffered won’t be known until Du Bois comes out of her coma, McWilliams said. Du Bois, who is left-handed, will also likely have to learn to write and perform other tasks with her right hand as part of her rehabilitation.

“They have told us it will be a very, very long rehabilitation period,” McWilliams said.

The accident occurred when Du Bois’ sister, JoKema, 15, was driving home from a church youth group meeting in her grandmother’s car. JoKema was reportedly weaving the car back and forth to amuse a 3-year-old girl in the car when she swerved across the center line into oncoming traffic.

JoKema Du Bois, Gena Watkinson, 15, and the toddler, Jesika Noell, were killed in the collision. The fifth girl in the car, Alicia Acevedo, 14, is in stable condition at the Northridge hospital.